Manchester United have their old aura back after less than a week under new boss Louis van Gaal according to executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, writes David McDonnell in Los Angeles .

Woodward pulled the trigger on Moyes, ending a disastrous 10-month spell in charge which saw the defending champions slump to a seventh-place Premier league finish and miss out on European qualification completely.

But, ahead of Van Gaal’s first game in charge of United against LA Galaxy here (in the early hours of Thursday, UK time), Woodward revealed how the arrival of Holland's World Cup coach had created a sense of anticipation throughout the club.

“There’s a real positive energy and buzz around the place,” said the United chief, in a break from their pre-season tour of the US.

“We haven’t set targets or anything, but I’m expecting Louis to do well.

“He’s impressed everyone around the club since he started - owners, players, coaching staff and all the backroom staff.

"I feel a lot more positivity in terms of this coming season. Part of that is simply because of what Louis did at the World Cup. I think it’s given us a bit of an aura around him.

"He was one of the managers at the World Cup who was pro-active - he did more things in games that gave him a bigger profile.”

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Woodward has come through the nightmare of last season – his first in the job - with his credibility enhanced.

It is a far cry from last summer, when Woodward was ridiculed for only delivering Marouane Fellaini, in the final minutes of deadline day and at an inflated price of £27m, after United had been in for a series of high-profile players including Herrera, Cesc Fabregas, Gareth Bale, Sami Khedria, Daniele De Rossi and Leighton Baines.

When United lost 2-0 away to Olympiacos in February - the result that signalled the beginning of the end for Moyes - Woodward was pictured taking a photo on his mobile phone as the second goal went in, while the rest of the United board showed their anguish at the goal.

Yet it says everything about the man that he was, in actual fact, taking a picture of the scoreboard in the stadium - to use as his screensaver as a permanent reminder of one of United’s most pitiful displays in Europe; to ensure it would never be allowed to happen again.

Woodward, 42, is now far more confident in his role and has enough humility to acknowledge some of the criticism that came his way in the past 12 months was legitimate and has helped make this summer a far more productive one for both him and United.

“It was a challenging year,” he said. “In an ideal situation, I would have worked with Sir Alex for a year, I would love to have done it personally.

“Most of the job wasn’t a surprise. I’ve been at the club nine years, and spent a lot of time talking to [predecessor] David Gill about what it was like, what were the issues, taking advice where I felt it was important to get advice, and you’re always learning in this job.

“I don’t think I can say I walked in and knew everything, because I absolutely didn’t. There were a lot of new things to deal with, looking back.

“You gain credibility through experience, through time. You build credibility with the way you act over a period of time. You can’t expect credibility from day one, and I wouldn’t ask that of the fans.

“Criticism comes with the job, but you have to take the rough with the smooth. There are some amazing things about this job and I’ve got a lot of support from the board and a lot of people within the club who are willing to give advice.

“I’m confident we’ve got clarity in what we’re doing. We’ve got long-term plans, and you can’t be distracted by short-term problems. You keep learning in this job and I don’t mind reading about these kind of [negative] comments because I think it’s extremely important for me to listen to the fans.”

”The pressure and expectations that come with the job are big. That’s what makes this an exciting role to take. Criticism and comments can change into positive comments over a period of time. I am judging myself by the board and the expectations of the people around me and wanting to win.”

Woodward admitted sacking Moyes was the biggest decision of his professional career but said it had to be done to ensure United did not continue to regress further under Ferguson’s immediate successor.

“We felt we were doing the right thing, we felt we were gauging with the relevant people internally to discuss who was the most appropriate and to discuss the right characteristics, all those kind of things,” said Woodward.

“By some distance the manager is the most important job in the club. And we didn’t take the decision lightly. We ran a process and we thought very carefully about the characteristics we were looking for in a manager.

“We were looking for a manager who would sync with the Manchester United philosophy. If you pause and take a step back, it is attacking football, it’s giving youth a chance - and both of those things are core to Louis’s philosophy of football – and a track record .We felt he was the right choice.”